ARTICLES ABOUT HEAD COACH BY DATE - PAGE 2

Just because Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon spent the last few days in Toronto at the NHL Scouting Combine where he has been checking out potential draft picks, doesn't mean he's not continuing his search for a head coach. A few new names have been added to the Panthers' candidate list, including Detroit Red Wings assistant Bill Peters and Canadiens assistant Gerard Gallant, according to a source close to the team. They've either been interviewed or are scheduled to be, with Peters having ties to Tallon from their years together in the Blackhawks' organization.

It's not a stretch to declare this offseason as the most important in the 20-year history of the Florida Panthers. So, that could be the reason why Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon as well as co-owners Vinnie Viola and Doug Cifu do not want to make a hasty decision before hiring their next head coach. The Panthers have the No. 1 draft pick to select or deal by June 27 and nearly $30 million in salary-cap space to shell out on free agents beginning on July 1. They also have to decide whether to give qualifying offers to their own restricted free agents such as Dmitry Kulikov, Erik Gudbranson, Dylan Olsen, Jimmy Hayes and Brandon Pirri.

The Panthers can cross Peter Laviolette off their coach wish-list as the Nashville Predators beat them to the punch by hiring the former Flyers coach on Tuesday. Laviolette, who guided the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup title in 2006 and the Flyers to an Eastern Conference championship in 2010, was the only name that Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon confirmed as being one of his three top candidates to succeed recently fired interim coach Peter Horachek. However, while the Panthers were wrapping up their three-day organizational scouting meetings on Tuesday, Predators General Manager David Poile — who along with Tallon was expected to interview Laviolette at the upcoming IIHF World Championship in Belarus where he's coaching Team USA — wasted little time in replacing longtime Nashville coach Barry Trotz.

FORT LAUDERDALE - Appearing at his first Gator Club event in Broward County in three years, Florida football coach Will Muschamp told a crowd of about 200 at War Memorial Auditorium Thursday night that "last fall is on my shoulders. " He called the team's 4-8 record in 2013 "unacceptable," adding, "It's my responsibility to get it fixed and that's what we're going to do. " Asked the greatest lessons he's learned as head coach, Muschamp quipped: "Keep your quarterback healthy -- No. 1 through 5. "

Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon fired interim coach Peter Horachek Tuesday morning, citing a lack of head-coaching experience as the primary cause. Since Tallon took over the reins of the Panthers in May 2010, none of his three coaches - Peter DeBoer, Kevin Dineen and Horachek - had any experience as a head coach behind an NHL bench. “We just felt as a group that it wasn't quite the right fit with the direction we're headed in," Tallon said via conference call. “We thought we needed to get somebody with probably more NHL coaching experience.

PROS 1. Throw out the first two games of his tenure when he wasn't able to conduct a full-blown practice to incorporate his systematic changes. Then discount the 7-15-1 post-Olympic break mark when injuries, especially to rookie phenom Aleksander Barkov, and the trading of several veterans, had his lineup consisting of mostly 10 rookies and AHLers, then Horachek's record would've been 19-19-3. 2. Under Horachek, forward Scottie Upshall, who was buried in Dineen's doghouse because of injuries and an apparent personality conflict, thrived with a career-best 37 points while evolving as a team leader.

It's not an NBA head coach's salary, but for FAU, it's pretty good. New FAU men's basketball coach Michael Curry signed a six-year contract worth close to $2 million on Tuesday. FAU finalized the contract Wednesday. View Michael Curry's FAU Contract -- PDF Curry will make $325,000 in his first year at FAU and will receive annual 2.5 percent increases every summer as long as he holds the job. Curry's first-year salary represents at least a $75,000 increase from former coach Mike Jarvis' salary.

Charlie Partridge hasn't been the head coach for a single FAU game, but the fine folks over at Athlon Sports have a good idea of where he ranks in the pantheon of college football coaches - and they say he's better than FIU coach Ron Turner. Partridge came in at No. 121 in Athalon's ranking of the 128 FBS head coaches, released Tuesday. Athlon (disclosure: I have written FAU and FIU previews for them) had nothing but nice things to say about Partridge, who ranked above Turner, new WKU coach Jeff Brohm and UTEP's Sean Kugler: "Partridge inherits a FAU team that closed 2013 by winning its final four games, so there's plenty of positive momentum surrounding the program.

DAVIE - For Dolphins fans wondering how the Joe Philbin/Dennis Hickey relationship is working so far, the answer could best be described as comfortable. Granted, that's a one-sided, biased review. But it comes from Philbin. That gives it weight. And it represents a change . Philbin wasn't comfortable working with former general manager Jeff Ireland for much of last season. But Philbin, the third-year Dolphins coach, and Hickey, the first-year Dolphins general manager, have been working side-by-side on personnel matters since Hickey was hired on Jan. 26. Philbin, for whatever reason, made a point of saying that last week at the NFL Owners Meetings in Orlando.

Like a kid on Christmas, FAU football coach Charlie Partridge couldn't contain his excitement for the first day of spring football. He was out of bed early and in the Tom Oxley Center two hours before the sun rose Wednesday morning. Turns out his assistant coaches couldn't sleep, either. "I came into the office this morning at about 5:30 a.m. and everybody was in there," Partridge said with a smile. "There was a lot of energy in the office. I thought they carried it out [to the field]